Week 16

Nice, warm weather on Monday. Can only mean one thing: going to the park! We kick our balls around, have some tee, play with the cars and run around again. When we get back home, we're all boiling and ready for some cooling down with a self prepared popsicle. Afterwards we can experiment some more with mixing up new flavors.. Main ingrediënt is greek yoghurt and then we add some jam, banana or other fruit. Can't wait until we can try them!

Btw, Grace already has an amazing taste in men.. Keeps on looking in my book, flipping through the pages with Scott Eastwood (ok, ok, I admit, she's looking for the horses, not the guy..)

On Tuesday, mum took us on a field trip to the new preschool. Looks pretty cool! So many people running around, trying to get everything done on time. I'm very excited to see how everything will turn out in the end! After our little visit, we went to feed the ducks at the park and then it was time to go home and do some baking.. Chocolate bickies, here we come!
Kira was grateful for them and I must admit, with some hot chocolate, they taste even better (I know right, I didn't think it was possible...)
We did some planning for the weekend and we booked a bunkbed @ the Mueller Hut near Mount Cook. If the weather is alright we should leave on Friday, do some sightseeing, leave on Saturday morning, hike about 4 hours (and maybe an extra hour to Mount Ollivier), have an amazing view of Mt Cook and head down right after sunrise and do an extra little track to Hooker Lake and back.

Wednesday got a lot colder. I was asked to pick some flowers while Keith and Carol were off to a concert. Since it was pretty ghastly, there was not much to do. Luckily the weather was good enough for the kids to play a bit on the playground in the mean time and Grace is proving once again that she is becoming a big, independent girl by doing the course around the tree all by herself! Jack was a bit more distracted by all the big trucks and diggers that were working next doors. In the morning we did some crafting and I finally started a family planner. Since Kim is doing odd hours and Jack is sometimes skipping his afternoon nap (becoming a big boy too!) it would come in handy. He already knows the days of the week (although he loves Friday, so you have to keep an eye out that he doesn't forget about Wednesday and Thursday).

Next morning was music class for Kim & Grace and toy library (and visit at the dollarshop where we found some cool jigsaw puzzles that you can paint yourself) for Jack & me. We took home a sweet as slide but it did take us a little bit of common sense before we were able to put it together..

Friday morning was time to get ready for our adventurous weekend and with Kira in the front seat I was moved to the (very sleepy) back row. A stop for food and sightseeing at Tekapo was just the tip of the iceberg (literally) for what was to come.
The brightest blue water I've ever seen, purple lupin everywhere and the best company you could ever imagine.

The good news could't last.. Bad weather was predicted for Saturday and Sunday above the mountains (not at the lakes or farm) so our hiking trip was cancelled. Our knowledge of crampons was nearly good enough to make it to the Hutt and even if we did, the view would have been crap anyway. The decision was't hard and we both agreed we where just going to make the best of it.

We didn't want to let the amazing weather on Friday go to waist, so we hopped in the car and drove all the way to the back of lake Pukaki (WOW!!) towards Mount Cook Village and did a 3 hour hike through the Hooker Valley to the Hooker lake across three swing bridges and AMAZING views! An impressive glacier, icebergs in the lake and finally... MOUNT COOK! We did have to take the pictures in between clouds, but we managed to see him completely! I had to wait a while for him to show me, but it was totally worth it!

Saturday was an early start for the farm girls who were going to muster some sheep with Tony (first we had to find them though.. Apparently that was the hardest part of it all. Ow, and holding on to the truck so we wouldn't jump on Grandad's lap). The afternoon was still gorgeous and so we grabbed some of our food (we had it anyway) and drove back to lake Tekapo to watch it from above at Mount John's Observatory. The hike was only about 3 hours, but the almost 360° view was breathtaking! So was watching the sun and a double star during daylight with these telescopes. On the way back we tried the water and it was actually a lot less cold than I feared... Enjoying the surrounding, talking about our loved ones, ... It was all good (except for those sharp rocks underneath our bear feet)!
To finish our (already) superb day, we went for an evening stroll (fleece blanket come too) and found a cosy spot for some star gazing. A falling star made me realize I already have everything I need and reminded me that there are heaps of people up there who are taking care of me!

Sunday was a typical relaxing day: slowly getting everything ready to head back home; making a stop along the way at Geraldine to get some Barkers syrup and other fruity stuff; making an appearance at the local Christmas fair; visiting Carol who broke her arm (poor thing!); having a BBQ with the fam and finally showing Kira "The Sound Of Music". Can you image she never saw it! Neither did she watch "Marry Poppins". What does she have against Julie Andrews ;) Thank goodness I was there to bring her some culture and she enjoyed it (thank goodness, since the movie takes almost 3 hours)!
Even though nothing was as planned, I ADORED my weekend and I admire the people I spend it with! Thanks to all, for being in my life! You have conquered a piece of my heart and you will stay there forever.. <3